A picture of something that is clearly alive and still becoming. Kunle Afolayan Productions’ KAP Film Village and Resort appears almost modest against the vast green landscape surrounding it. Behind the resort, thick vegetation climbs into hills scattered with enormous granite rocks. In front, paths cut through the earth towards a developing recreational area, where new tennis and basketball courts sit beside a clubhouse.
I recently had a sit-down with its creator, filmmaker Kunle Afolayan. Spread across 64 acres, KAP Village & Resort is an ambitious combination of film production, hospitality, recreation, culture and nature. Some 250 kilometres from Lagos, even its entrance makes a statement.
The remarkable KAP VILLAGE sign, with each giant letter standing at 25 feet high, created by Nigerian scrap-metal artist Dọtun Popoola. Built from discarded metal and transformed into monumental letters, it is an appropriate introduction to a place where creativity seems to extend into almost everything.
Inside the property, there is a sprawling tree house overlooking a vast pasture, a horse barn with donkeys and a camel, and a collection of vintage cars, including a Thunderbird and a Cadillac. Set against the hills and enormous granite formations, the entire landscape has an almost cinematic quality — fittingly, even when no camera is rolling.
Five years ago, Afolayan revealed, he began by staying on the property in one of his RVs. Today, that early beginning has evolved into Ire Lodge, a magnificent accommodation built right beside the hillside, with the landscape almost becoming part of the architecture.
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The fittings and finishing throughout the resort are also striking. The quality is high, creativity and an attention to detail that would not feel out of place in a premium destination in a major city. Yet here it is, surrounded by open land, hills and vegetation, far from the bustle of Lagos.
But perhaps the most interesting thing about KAP Village is not simply what has been built. It is why Kunle keeps building. For him, this place is personal.
His mother was from the neighboring town, giving him a connection to the area that goes beyond business. Kunle told us that KAP Village is his dream and passion, and that the project is self-funded.
The village began with filmmaking. When Kunle needed a location for Aníkúlápó, rather than simply finding an existing set, he decided to build one from scratch. The set became permanent. Accommodation followed. Then came more infrastructure, more ideas and more possibilities.
Today, the place has moved far beyond a film set and he is still not finished. As he showed us around, he pointed out some of his latest creations: tennis and basketball courts, with a clubhouse.
“Every time I think I’m done, there’s always something to do,” he told us, laughing. “As you can see, tennis and basketball courts are among my engaging creations this year”.
KAP Village is not the result of a single grand construction project that was completed and unveiled. It is constantly evolving, shaped by whatever Kunle imagines should come next. That may be the most distinctive thing about the place.
There is a certain boldness to building something like this so far from Nigeria’s major urban centers. Yet the surrounding landscape is part of what makes KAP Village special. The huge granite formations, dense vegetation, pasture and hills provide a natural backdrop that no conventional film studio could easily reproduce.
From the ground, you notice the architecture, the giant sign, the vintage cars, the animals, the recreational spaces and the remnants of the film world created here.
From the air, you see something else.
You see the scale.
The 64 acres stretch out beneath the drone, with the buildings occupying only a portion of the landscape. Roads and pathways weave through the property, while beyond them the hills continue into the distance.
Afolayan is not simply building a resort. He is building a place where filmmaking, hospitality, recreation, culture, nature and learning can exist together — and where the next idea can always find somewhere to take shape.
KAP Village has already grown enormously from those early days when its creator slept in an RV on the property. But the story is clearly not finished. Perhaps it is supposed to remain that way. Because every time Kunle thinks he is done, there is another court to build, another facility to create, another idea waiting to become real.
As he laughed, “It is a never-ending project, as far as humanity is concerned. I think I am contributing my quota, Kunle Afolayan Produtions is here to stay”
Looking at KAP Village from above, you begin to understand why.
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